Looking forward to trips this year, check below for upcoming trips!
Why RetailROI Trips?
Deciding to attend a RetailROI trip is one of the best decisions you’ll ever make. Going from “I WANT to do something” to “I am GOING to do something” is a powerful thing. There is no video or words that can take the place of seeing for yourself the positive change we can make in the lives of these children.
You may be thinking “I don’t know what I can do on this trip …how I can help”. Be assured we need people with all kinds of skill sets as we are doing everything from unpacking boxes and handing out school supplies to installing networks and designing computer labs. This is a diary from a recent trip so you can see an example.
Each trip will have a trip orientation call to help make sure every attendee is comfortable and set clear expectations of what the goals are for each respective trip. Once you decide to attend a trip, you will be contacted by a RetailROI staff member to talk about next steps.
Each trip is with a charity that is established in the country we are visiting and that is very familiar with the customs, cultural norms in that area. They guide us to safely and effectively serve – maximizing the strengths of all that go on the trips.
Upcoming Trips
Guatemala - July 10-16, 2024
We will visit Guatemala and engage in projects serving and providing care to disabled youth. Participants will arrive in Guatemala on July 10 (Wednesday) and leave July 17th (Wednesday). . We will explore rural areas of Guatemala via our mobile clinics and provide care to disabled youth in need of assistive technology wheelchairs. The mobile clinics will include assessments for medical and equipment needs, provision of equipment, and training for medical and assistive technology care. Additionally, we plan to visit medical programs and an orphanage run by our partners. During this trip participants will get to experience the UNESCO World Heritage site, Antigua, Guatemala. Youth 14+ are welcome on this trip.
Jamaica - June 9 -13, 2024
This trip would be our 6th trip to Jamaica and it would be specifically designed so that our teens can attend. We will be visiting with kids from age 5-17 as part of this trip in the Chapelton, Jamaica area. As a stable, English speaking country we will have several opportunities to invest our time and energies with the time in up to 6 schools. Depending on who will attend, this will range from crafts and games to computer and life skills training. If we have enough teens, we may also look at some athletic competitions.
Jeffreys Bay, South Africa - July 27th-August 3rd and/or August 3rd to August 10th (you can come for just 1 week or both)
This trip goes to the only area where we have a continuity of involvement/care from age 3 all the way through university for children from the townships/projects. We start with pre-school, help with elementary school, then high school and even post high school. 2 years ago, we had our first two graduates go through the entire program. This trip includes all the bucket list activities as well: elephants, sharks, big cats and some of the best waves in the world. You can attend a portion or the entire trip. The first week is training on C11 curriculum, with the bulk of attendees coming the second week. We will build in time at the end of both weeks for a fun trip to African Adventure.
Liberia - February 22 - 28, 2024
On this trip we will tour the Lifesong Liberia site in Marshall. This will include visits with the kids that live in the girls’ and boys’ dorms on the Marshall site. We will visit the Lifesong Christian Academy to see the classrooms and meet the teachers. We will tour the Lifesong Vocational College in Marshall and in Congo Town and speak to the teachers and the administrators. We will attend church and possibly a Vocational College graduation.
Honduras - Summer 2024
This 4–5-day trip (departing on Saturday & returning on Tuesday or Wednesday) will be visiting our partner Casita Copan Children’s Home in Copan Ruinas. We’ll visit with the school children, install a second computer lab, get a understanding of the important work Casita Copan is doing for Orphans and Foster children by providing education, meals, a safe place to go after school, and foster house mothers. We’ll make a side trip to the Mayan Ruins, Coffee Plantation, or Macaw Sanctuary so you can get a flavor of the area. This is a great trip to bring your teens- ages 14+ and will be limited to 15 people. More information can be found here.
Dominican Republic - October 16 - 22, 2024
Join Mary & Jay Fagnano, founders of the Thrive in Joy Nick Fagnano Foundation, on their annual fall vision trip to the Dominican Republic. All accommodations and transportation are coordinated between Thrive in Joy and Nelson Paulino, the Director of Casa Misionera, in the Dominican Republic with whom Thrive in Joy has worked with since 2014 to plan their trips. If you like to cook—this is a trip for you! We provide a meal for 425 students at a school in Herrera, an extremely underserved community in Santo Domingo. We also spend a day with the children at the Remar Orphanage creating a fiesta for them and cheering them on when they entertain us with their Remar’s Got Talent show. If you have a talent, we might even be able to create an act of our own! We also have added the community of Nagua as a service destination. This small, rural community on the north coast of the island is a beautiful 2- hour drive from Santo Domingo. In this community, where many people live in homes with dirt floors, we’ve been able to help with home repairs and food distribution, and we are looking into opportunities to build a water purification facility. On the day before we return to the states, we take a day of R&R at a lovely boutique hotel right across from the ocean. We bond as a team, bring our love, and whatever our gifts might be--whether it’s chopping vegetables, throwing a baseball, giving a piggyback ride, or listening to what the children want to tell us (we always have lots of translators, so don’t worry if you don’t speak Spanish). Many of our team members have joined us on multiple trips…Warning---this could become addictive!
India - Fall of 2024 - will decide based on those interested.
This trip will be visiting both Bangalore and Delhi, visiting homes and projects with partner Childrens Hope India. This will be an inaugural trip where the group will visit and help define priorities for future projects and trips. There will be a minimum of 2 days in Bangalore and 2 days in Delhi. Then we will have an optional 3rd day for those that wish to visit the Taj Mahal.